INTRODUCTION. 
Montagu 
House, 
viii 
down in the Act, netted the sum of/^* 194. 8*?. 2 d. 
This sum, together with the several collec¬ 
tions purchased and granted as above stated. 
Parliament vested in an incorporate body of 
Trustees, consisting of the first characters in the 
kingdom for rank, station, and literary fame ; 
at the same time conferring on them ample 
powers to take such measures as they should 
deem expedient for the disposal, preservation, 
and management of the Institution, which it 
was now determined should bear the name of 
the British Museum. 
The first act of these Trustees was to provide 
a proper building for the reception of the ample 
collections confided to their care ; and after va¬ 
rious proposals, they at length fixed upon the 
noble mansion, built about the year 1680, by 
Ralph first Duke of Montagu, who being at that 
time Ambassador at Paris, sent over French artists 
for erecting and adorning the edifice he had in 
contemplation. This palace, together with its 
gardens and appurtenances, occupying in the 
whole an area of seven acres and twenty perches 
of land, was ceded by the representatives of 
the Montagu family for the moderate sum of 
£ 10 , 000 . 
The necessary repairs (which, the house 
having stood long empty, proved very expensive) 
